Buried in the Back of my Mind
by LeahAndre'x
Summary: Five/Six parter. Carla's past comes back to haunt her just as she starts to get her life back on track.
1. Chapter 1

**Buried in the Back Of My Mind**

Three or Four Parter.

_**a.n/ Excuse the Rubbish Title**_

Set June 2012.

"Carla? Lunch's ready," Peter called to his girlfriend, who had now appeared from their bedroom. He stood in awe of her, still feeling not worthy of the beauty. She was getting ready for Julie and Brian's wedding, and was wearing a short halter neck dress, the colour of the sky as the sun set on a beautiful's Summer's day. Her makeup was impeccable - Peter had expected nothing less from Carla. The pale red of her dress suited perfectly with her subtle makeup, her effortless beauty not needing cosmetics to make her perfect features stand out.

"Wow. You look gorgeous," Peter grinned. Carla's eye for fashion had certainly rubbed off on Peter, his shabby clothes were now replaced with designer suits and labeled clothes. "Not too bad yourself," Carla winked, but secretly admiring his suit, the crisp white shirt and black tie, smart shoes and a lovely smile to go with it all.

"You sure we should have lunch? I mean knowing Brian and his love of food we definitely won't starve," Carla laughed, before touching up her lipgloss.

"Well I've made it now anyways.. But I suppose we could save it for tomorrow," Peter smiled before hearing the house phone ring. Peter made his way over to where the phone lay, picked it up but just as he was going to press the button to accept the call, it stopped ringing. Peter cautiously lifted the receiver to his ear, but all he could hear was the dialing tone.

"Who's that love?" Carla asked, flicking through a magazine.

"Dunno.. I thought it might've been Leanne saying she was gonna pick Simon up from my dad's y'know, but there was no-one on the line," Peter said, confused, though just ignoring the strange phone call.

"Could've been wrong number," Carla said rationally, before walking up to Peter and giving him a soft peck on the cheek.

"C'mon, we best get going," Carla told him, before taking his hand and leading him out of the flat.

As they arrived at the hotel venue, the pair clasped hands tightly, though the whole Street had now accepted the pair as a couple. They made their way over to Brian, giving small smiles to anyone who looked in their direction. "Nervous then, mate?" Peter asked, when they reached the top of the aisle.

"I must say my nerves are kicking in.. Though all I want is to make Julie my wife and then we'll be a proper family when the baby comes." Brian grinned.

As the ceremony started, and Peter and Carla took their seats, Julie walked up the aisle, who was linking arms with Sean, who had offered to give her away. Her bump was visible, and the ivory gown which Julie wore looked lovely.

After the vows had been said, and the marriage sealed with a kiss, Carla and Peter made their way back to Peter's flat. Although there was an after-party, Carla realised that it was probably going to be full of booze, even with Julie pregnant, the temptations were still hard to resist, though she nor Peter hadn't touched a drop in months.

"That was lovely.." Carla smiled, reminiscing about the wedding.

"Yeah it was, Julie looked lovely. They're made for one another, Brian and Julie," Peter smiled.

"Just like me and you, eh?" Carla grinned before enjoying the gentle breeze before the entered their flat, once more. As Carla padded up the stairs after taking her heels off, she entered the flat and a familiar beeping sound filled the room.

'_Wonder who that is' _Carla though as she picked up the phone and stared blankly at the screen upon seeing the number.

"Who is it, love?" Peter asked as he walked up behind her, peering over her shoulder, not recognizing the number.

Carla ignored Peter for a moment, but also knowing her words tell Peter the answer to his simple question. As she pressed the button to receive the call, she nervously brought the phone up to her ear.

"Hello, Dad."

**a.n/ Reviews/Thoughts welcome ;'3**


	2. Chapter 2

**Wow, thank you to every one of you who has read or left a review.. encourages me to continue! Here is chapter two, hope you enjoy! **

"Carla," the old man croaked, his voice wavering slightly at the sound of his daughters voice.

"What do you want?" Carla spat down the phone, anger suddenly erupting within her. Memories of her childhood comes flooding back, the beatings her own _father _had given her, the beatings he had given his own _wife. _Carla's retentive memory allows her to remember the things which she does not want to remember, thinking her past was buried in the back of her mind. Sometimes, a retentive memory was not a good thing.

"I need to see you.." The old man wheezed, ignoring his daughters harsh comments.

"Well I flamin' well do not want to see you!" Carla spat, before Peter decided to intervene.

"Carla love, you should hear him out.." Peter said in a soothing tone, hoping that her anger would dissipate, knowing that he could usually be the one to calm her down.

"If you _knew _what he did to me.." Carla cried, tears flowing down her cheeks as she dropped the phone, not realising she hadn't cut the call off.

"Hey c'mere,' Peter said as he pulled Carla closer to him, expecting that she would soon tell him the intimate details of her childhood.

Taking her hand and leading her to sit on the sofa, Peter sits close to Carla, arms around her, caressing her ebony locks. Carla hesitates as she begins the conversation, wanting to get it over with, her sometimes reticence nature making it that bit harder to confide in the man she loves.

"He used to hit me.. Hit Darren.. Mum.. If he wasn't giving us smacks every now and then, he'd be down the pub come lunchtime, with all sorts, if he wasn't in the nick for God knows what.." Carla mumbled, not sure what reaction she'd get from Peter. She'd never told him about her childhood before, never actually telling anyone. It was seemingly buried in the back of her mind before one phone call from her waster father came and dug the painful memories back up. She does not tell him more painful memories, hoping that she could confide in him once again with her even more intimate secrets, hidden within her damaged soul.

As Carla looked up at Peter's face for the first time since the conversation began, she notices the tears in his eyes, upon a looked of hatred for her father on his face. She doesn't know what she can say to comfort him, so instead she sinks once more into his embrace.

Joe listens intently to the pairs conversation, realising what he has put his daughter through. He too remembers the marks he left on his daughter's wrists, pinning her up against doors every now and then. The bruises on his sons face is constantly etched in his mind, the burns to his wife's wrists, who was too afraid to contradict her husbands actions, too cowardly to protect her own children. Joe thinks he is the reason she abandoned Carla when she was a child, abandoned Darren. As he hears Carla's muffled cries in the background, he places the phone down, ending the call, ending their short lived conversation, never to be reignited again.

**Hope you've enjoyed.. This isn't the last we've heard of Carla's father Joe, more to come! Reviews loved, and thank you again for all your lovely reviews on chapter one! **

**a.n/ I do apologise for the shortness of the chapters!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks to every one once a_gain, _for your lovely reviews. **

As Peter sees Carla exit their bedroom, he once again feels in awe of her. The whole outfit she has thrown together, the daring gossamer dresses of sheer black lace, doing nothing but accentuating her already perfect features, making her look that bit more beautiful.

"You do realise we're only going to me Dad's for lunch," Peter grinned.

"Out to impress, me," Carla laughed, though still was on edge after the short-lived phone call she'd received from her father yesterday.

"We don't have to go.. I know you must still be feeling.. _down_, after yesterday," Peter told Carla, unable to find a word in his vocabulary to fit with Carla's feelings, knowing sometimes the depth of Carla's feelings were indescribable.

"Listen yeah, we're just gonna forget about _him,_ and get back to the way things were before," Carla says as she walks down the stairs of their flat with Peter following close behind.

As they entered Ken and Deirdre's small but homely terraced house, Peter gives his son a hug, after not seeing him properly for a few days since it was Leanne's week with him.

"You have fun at Leanne's mate?" Peter asks and sits on the sofa next to Simon.

"Yeah it were brilliant we had pizza and we went to the zoo!" Simon grinned, before Carla decided to join in on the conversation. Over the past few months, Simon had grown used to the fact that Leanne or his Dad weren't together anymore, and Carla was living with them. There was still times when Simon acted out, but other than that their relationship was fine.

"I'm sure me and your Dad could take you somewhere when your staying with us.. Where'd you like to go?" Carla asked the child, who looked like he was doing a great deal thinking about what he'd like to do while he was at his Dad's.

"Can we go to the circus? There's one near the cinema, in that field thingy," Simon asked as he looked at his Dad, flashing some sort of "Puppy-Dog" face in attempt to persuade his Dad to take him to the circus.

"Yeah we can go there, and maybe get some McDonald's after, yeah?" Peter agreed before taking a seat at the table after Deirdre announced that lunch was ready.

After lunch had ended, Peter, Simon and Carla were walking back to their flat when Carla stopped dead in her tracks after seeing an old man, about 75, being wheeled out of a taxi suitable for wheelchairs.

"What is it love?" Peter asked, after Carla stood still, not daring to make a move, just staring at the old man.

"That's my Dad.." Carla whispered, before marching across the street and demanding what her father was doing here, and how he had found out where she was living.

"What the _hell, _do you think you're doing here?" Carla spat at the old man, after she'd walked over to him.

"Carla.." Joe wheezed, reaching for his inhaler.

"Listen, I do not _want _you anywhere _near _me, my boyfriend or his son, alright? The moment you started hitting mum, me, _Darren, _you'd lost your chance at ever being a good father. Stay a_way," _Carla spat, before pushing past her father and stomping up the stairs to her and Peter's flat, sat down on the sofa and cried into a pillow.

**Have decided this will be a five or six parter, and Carla and Joe will actually have a proper conversation in the next chapter. Thanks and reviews/feedback/criticisms welcome!**

**a.n/ I do apologise for the shortness of the chapters once _again._**


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